fresh milk for suck calves

farawaygrass

if i was to buy suck calves, and instead of buying milk power or double sucking, i was to buy milk straight off a neighboring dairy farm, how much milk would a calve want at 3 weeks and say 8 weeks? how much would the milk cost from a dairy farmer? any answers appreciated!

whelan1

its a non runner, johnes would be a massive risk here..... dont do it

Sam Kade

A calf would drink 1 gallon a day. If you are buying milk you would be better off getting the calf eating ration as soon as possible and weaning them at 6 weeks. You would be paying around 30 cent a litre.

farawaygrass

whelan1 wrote: »

its a non runner, johnes would be a massive risk here..... dont do it

why so? another neighboring farmer keeps some of his calves, and i see him bringing buckets or milk after he finishes milking to them. what would the difference be really?

whelan1

farawaygrass wrote: »

why so? another neighboring farmer keeps some of his calves, and i see him bringing buckets or milk after he finishes milking to them. what would the difference be really?

we where at a discussion group meeting by a vet he said under NO circumstances to bring in milk from other farms, you can give it out if you want, but for the biosecurity of your animals he said its a non runner....

dzer2

whelan1 wrote: »

we where at a discussion group meeting by a vet he said under NO circumstances to bring in milk from other farms, you can give it out if you want, but for the biosecurity of your animals he said its a non runner....

Sounds like he has shares in glanbia. Farmer up the road was over quota 2 years ago sold a lot of milk to other farmers to feed calves worked out for every one.

whelan1

dzer2 wrote: »

Sounds like he has shares in glanbia. Farmer up the road was over quota 2 years ago sold a lot of milk to other farmers to feed calves worked out for every one.

i wouldnt take the chance tbh... but sure each to their own, johnes doesnt show til the animal is around 2 i think so even though animals look fine now they could still have it....

st1979

Why would u not use milk replacer. Having just started using it after always using dumped milk i actually reckon the calves do better on replacer plus its cheaper.
Also i reckon that a gallon a day is not enough to get them really going. It is the recommended level but after reading excel vets calf rearing guide they reckon for good growth u need to feed alot more

Tipp Man

whelan1 wrote: »

i wouldnt take the chance tbh... but sure each to their own, johnes doesnt show til the animal is around 2 i think so even though animals look fine now they could still have it....

But if we all thought like that then there would never be an animal traded inter farm and marts shouldn't exist.

Whats the difference in buying milk direct from a farmer and buying calves (or any animal) from the same farmer??

whelan1

Tipp Man wrote: »

But if we all thought like that then there would never be an animal traded inter farm and marts shouldn't exist.

Whats the difference in buying milk direct from a farmer and buying calves (or any animal) from the same farmer??

as i said each to their own... i bought in heifers a few years ago that developed johnes, never had it here before ... i wouldnt wish it on anyone, the worst part is you do not know they have it so you could be feeding their milk to calves unknowingly...

Tipp Man

whelan1 wrote: »

as i said each to their own... i bought in heifers a few years ago that developed johnes, never had it here before ... i wouldnt wish it on anyone, the worst part is you do not know they have it so you could be feeding their milk to calves unknowingly...

Yes but he is buying in the calves anyway so it makes no difference - the calves could already have it


Especially if he is in beef where the calves will be killed at some stage anyway

whelan1

Tipp Man wrote: »

Yes but he is buying in the calves anyway so it makes no difference - the calves could already have it


Especially if he is in beef where the calves will be killed at some stage anyway

yup, if he is keeping them for breeding its a non runner imo

bbam

st1979 wrote: »

Why would u not use milk replacer. Having just started using it after always using dumped milk i actually reckon the calves do better on replacer plus its cheaper.
Also i reckon that a gallon a day is not enough to get them really going. It is the recommended level but after reading excel vets calf rearing guide they reckon for good growth u need to feed alot more

If you read any studies on this the results have found that if calves are presented and moved onto ration quickly there is as good weight gain in less milk. At six months old the calves weigh the same.
We had this out at home years ago and split a batch of HEX bulls, half got one bag and half got two bags of milk replacer. We found that definitely by 9-10 months there was no noticeable difference.
I calves are healthy and eating high protein ration them wean them early. If you get a calf at four weeks old then another six weeks of milk at the recommend rate is fine, otherwise it costs too much.

bbam

Also your either going to be over and back collecting fresh milk or storing it. This adds more cost.
Get a good milk replacer. I find that if you price round and buy a few bags you'll save a few euro too.

And Maverick is way overpriced.

Tipp Man

You could make yoghurt milk which makes it easier to store, mean that you would have to collect it less often and it is supposed to be great for calves (but I personally have not used it)

farawaygrass

at 30c a litre then fresh milk is prob too dear. ya heard that about maverick alright, what brand you use? was planning on collecting milk daily or every other day, only couple of miles away.
bbam. i would have thought the complete opposite, thought that a young calves stomach would find it harder on high ration diet, that it needs milk longer. was just my thought though.
whelan, dont know much about johnes, but the way i see it isnt there risk buying any stock. sounds a bad dose no doubt. my father used to do buy alot of calves years ago, no prob. double sucked though. double sucked a few calves the last couple years myself, good strong calves now. was just toying with the idea of different way of rearing this year.

Conor556

I use dairygold Prime 20 or prime 23, the 23 is €4 or €5 dearer a bag than the 20 tho.

delaval

If your calves are for beef Jonnes not a risk. If they are for breeding under no circumstances shoud you touch it.
We rear all our calves on milk replacer to avoid any spread of Jonnes.
You need to get on to once a day milk asap. I suggest 2 llitres water and 175 gms good quality powder twice a day for first week. Move to 3 litres water and 500 gms once a day from then. When they are eating 1.5 kg ration per day start to wean over 1 week.
The secret to keeping calves thriving is to get as much solids as possible into them hence once a day and low water volume. No hay or silage should be offered only good barley straw. If you bed every day and leave core of bale in shed will do